Can opener



April 8, 1941. F. E. FENDER ETAL 2,237,418

CAN OPENER Filed Jan. 17, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 8, 1941. F. E. FENDER EI'AL CAN OPENER Filed Jan. 17, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 8, 1941 CAN OPENER.

Ferdinand E. Fender, Evanston, and Carl I. Wille, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Vaughan Novelty Mfg. Co. Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application January 17, 1939, Serial No. 251,378

7 Claims.

This invention relates to can openers and has for its principal object to. provide an improved can opener which can be employed with equal facility upon cans of rectangular and circular sections.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved can opener in which the cutting blade is made of a resilient material so that the can. opener will adapt itself to irregularities encountered in the formation of the beads of various cans and in the scam in the wall of each can.

A further object of the invention is to provide a can opener which can be employed upon cylindrical cans of very small dimensions and upon rectangular cans with abrupt corners.

Other objects, advantages and capabilities of the invention will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the can opener with the opener ready to be applied to a can;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View of the can opener applied to a can taken upon the line 2-2 shown in Fig. 3 slightly forward of the axis of the traction member 13 and looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the can opener applied to a can taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrow with the shoulder ill of the can opener shown partly in section, and with the can opener before applica tion to the can shown in broken lines;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the resilient blade member of the can opener showing the blade puncturing the can as it is being initially applied;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the exterior of the can showing the gripping of the traction member and the relation of the traction member and blade when the latter is in cutting position;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the can opener being applied to a can of rectangular section;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the can opener applied to the corner of a can of rectangular section and a representation in broken lines of the respective positions of the can opener and can after it has progressed to the straight side of a rectangular can.

Referring to the drawings, the reference numeral II designates the upper handle of the can opener which is formed of a fiat strip of steel. The rear portion of the handle which is intended to be gripped by the hand is in horizontal plane,

while the forward portion is twisted into a vertical plane. This is best shown in Figs. 1, 3 and '7. As seen in Fig. 7, the rear of the handle is also offset from the plane of the forward end.

The end of the upper handle ll may conveniently be formed into a bottle opener 35 and can lid lifter 35.

At the forward end of the handle member I l is a traction wheel assembly. This assembly comprises a traction wheel l3 fixedly secured to the shank M of the key l5. The shank I4 is journaled in the handle member l I so that when the key l5 is turned by the fingers the rotation is imparted to the traction wheel l3.

Pivoted at IE to the handle member H is a plate ll fixedly secured to the lower handle member I2. The lower handle member l2 projects beyond the body of the plate I! and terminates in an off-set guide member 22 which, as shown in Fig. 2, spaces the can opener from the body of the can 23.

The two handle members H and I2 can be gripped by the left hand and operated like the hands of a pincers about the pivot Hi. The plate I1 is vertical and its flat surface bears against the corresponding fiat surface of the forward portion of the handle member II. At its upper end the plate I! is. bent at a right angle to the main portion of the plate ll, into a horizontal position to form the flange or shoulder IS. The shoulder I8 is shown in detail in Fig. 5. Pressed from the lower surface of the shoulder 18 are two ridges l9 and 20 which bear against the bead 24 of the can 23 when the can opener is in operating position.

Attached to the plate ll is the resilient blade member 25. This blade member is in the shape of an inverted U, with one leg 26 secured to the plate I1 and the other leg 21 forming the cutting portion of the blade, the two legs joined by the bow 30. The cutting portion 21 of the blade terminates in an inclined cutting edge 23 and also is notched at 29 to receive the edge of the shoulder as shown in Fig. 4. The bow 39 of the blade 25 is made at some distance above the shoulder l8 in order to impart the necessary resilience to the blade member 25.

The operation of the can opener is as follows: With the can opener in open position as shown in Fig. 1 the handles II and [2 are gripped by the left hand and the can opener applied to the side of a can as shown in Fig. 3. The can opener is so applied that the traction member I3 lies against the wall of the can 23 and directly beneath the bead 24. With the can opener in open 27, because of the engagement of the notch 29 with the rigid shoulder i8, is held in rigid condition and is readily driven through the top of the can.

As the blade edge 28 is driven through the top of the can it continues to penetrate the can until the ridges l9 and. 20 upon the shoulder l8 come into contact with the bead 24 of the can. By continued gripping of the handle members I l and l 2 and bead 24 of the cam is firmly held between the bearing portions l9 and 20 of the shoulder i8 and the teeth of the traction wheel l3. If the key i5 is then turned the rotation of the traction wheel will drive the can opener about the bead of the can with the blade in the position shown in Fig. 4 shearing the top 2| immediately adjacent to bead 24 of the can.

Any irregularities in the bead of the can in the vertical direction are compensated for by the pivoted relation of the blade and traction wheel and the yielding grip of the hand upon the handles II and I2. Any irregularities in the horizontal dimensions of the can head, such as that caused by the seam 32 found in every can, are compensated for by the spreading of the two legs 26 and 21 of the blade member 25. resiliency of the blade member and the bow 30 thereon permit this spreading of the legs 26 and 21. As the blade member is spread to accommodate the blade to irregularities in the can bead the leg forming the cutting portion of the blade -i 21 spreads along the shoulder I 8,,guided by the engagement of the notch 29 upon the edge of the shoulder. This engagement of the notch 29 with the shoulder l8, because of the increasing tension of the lower portion of the notch against the shoulder as the spreading continues, serves to in crease the resistance of the resilient member as spreading is increased and prevents dislocation of the blade beyond the position necessary to out the can top 2! along its outer edge.

In cans of circular section of standard size the blade 27 will operate without any substantial spreading of the two legs of the blade member except where substantial irregularities in the bead and the seam occur. diameter are opened the curvature of the arc of that portion of the can bead in contact with the blade increases greatly and the resiliency of the blade member permits the blade to adjust itself thereto and prevents binding of the blade and .1'.

stantially the same manner as that described in connection with the opening of cans of small diameter.

An additional problem is incurred in the opening of cans of rectangular section. The handles of the can opener are normally clear of any can of The Where cans of very small circular section because the can opener operates upon a tangent to the circle formed by the can section. In cans of rectangular section the can opener operates immediately adjacent and parallel to the flat sides of the can as the can opener is normally held in the left hand. Some clearance between the can opener handles and the can walls is necessary. Even without any clearance the can opener operating in the plane of the can wall has a tendency to bind. To meet this problem, the rear portions of the handle members I l and 12 are offset from the plane of the traction wheel IS, the blade I! and the forward ends of the two handle members. Clearance is thus afiorded between the wall of the can 23 and the handles, as shown in Fig. '7.

Although the invention has been disclosed in connection with the specific details of preferred embodiments thereof, it must be understood that such details are not intended to be limitative of the invention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. A can opener of the pincer-type comprising a pair of pivoted handles, a resilient inverted U- shaped blade member aflixed to one handle, an abutment flange also supported by the same handle, a traction wheel journaled in the other handle, the flange and wheel being located between sides of the U-blade to grip the bead of a can therebetween and means to rotate the traction wheel.

2. A can opener of the pincer-type comprising a pair of pivoted handles, a resilient blade member formed in the shape of an inverted U with one leg thereof affixed to one handle and the other leg thereof formed into a sheer blade, a flange also supported by the same handle having a support for engaging the said shear blade leg, a traction wheel journaled in the other handle, and means to rotate the traction wheel.

3. A can opener of the pincer-type comprising a pair of pivoted handles for manually supporting and opening a can, a resilient blade member aifixed to one handle, a notch in said blade, a horizontal flange affixed to the same handle, said flange slidably engaging said notch to brace the blade against movement at right angles to the flange while allowing movement thereof along the flange, a traction wheel journaled in the other handle below the flange, and means to rotate the traction wheel.

4. A can opener of the pincer-type comprising a pair of pivoted handles, a traction wheel journaled in one handle, a resilient blade member afiixed to the other handle, said blade member being formed in an inverted U, of which one leg is formed into a shear blade, a notch in said blade near the cutting portion thereof, a horizontal flange attached to the same handle as that to which the blade member is attached and lying substantially below the bow in the U-shaped blade 3, member and engaging said notch in said blademember, said flange overlying said traction wheel, and means to rotate said traction wheel.

5. A can opener of the pincer-type comprising a pair of pivoted handles, a traction wheel jour naled in one handle, a resilient blade member aiiixed to the other handle, said blade member being formed in an inverted U, of which one leg is formed into a shear blade, a notch in said blade near the cutting portion thereof, a horizontal flange attached to the same handle as that to which the blade member is attached and lying substantially below the bow in the U-shaped blade member and engaging said notch in said blademember, a ridge on the lower surface of said flange to bear upon the bead of a can, said flange overlying the traction wheel, and means to rotate said traction wheel.

6. In a can opener, a pair of pivoted members, a traction wheel journaled in one of said members, means to rotate said traction wheel, a flange secured to the other pivoted member and overlying said traction wheel so that the head of a can may be gripped between said flange and said traction wheel, a resilient blade attached to the latter pivoted member said blade being of the shape of an inverted U and being notched near the cutting edge thereof to engage said flange.

'7. A can opener of the pincer type comprising a I pair of pivotally connected handles, a traction wheel rotatably carried by one handle, means to rotate the traction wheel, a resilient blade secured at one end to the other handle and termimating in a cuttin end spaced from said other handle and adjacent the traction wheel when the handles are closed, said cuttin end being movable toward and away from the traction wheel both parallel to and at right angles to the plane of the wheel through flexing of the blade, and a reinforcing member carried by said other handle and extending therefrom substantially at a right angle to the plane of the traction wheel and slidably engaging the blade adjacent its cutting end to brace said cutting end against movement parallel to the plane of the traction wheel.

FERD E1. FENDER. CARL I. WILLE. 

